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Press

The 105-year-old Third Reich Secretary is of current interest, because whatever has matured in the cowardice of this ordinary person is also blithely thriving inside of ourselves: Ignorance and passivity. It was this duo, which gave the British a dumb puzzled facial expression after they actually became aware of the consequences of the Brexit; It is this duo, which prevents people in the United States from stopping a political rampage of a backcombed semi-lunatic. But above all Brunhilde Pomsel is interesting especially because she draws attention to one of the big dangers: Namely ourselves, or the common man and the common woman, just ordinary people, and the power that emanates from us when nothing emanates from us. The decision reflects the realization and responsibility as a light version of the banality of evil. This good woman only typed on some keys. Just as we simply want to see Game of Thrones or colorful Instagram profiles—Please just leave us alone with your attacks right in front of our doors, eh? Let´s look out for that little bit of Pomsel in us. Paul Garbulski, Vice

As one watches A German Life it will be hard not to ask the disturbing and timely question, “What would I have done in this situation? This film is truly a piece of art.Jay Rosenblatt, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

A tiny, frail woman with a remarkable memory and a keen interest in current affairs, she delivered a warning from history to the politicians and voters of today. “It seems like Europe is collapsing and everything is fracturing again.” David Charter, The Times

A German Life is an extraordinary, timeless and essential masterpiece in documentary filmmaking. In fact, A German Life is also a very timely film as the analogy with todays events is inevitable.Tara Karajica, The Film Prospector

A German Life is another testimonial by Goebbel’s secretary. Stark images in black and white portray Brunhilde Pomsel as a forceful, eccentric, intimidating woman who seems to have lived in a black and white world. At 103 and still very lucid, articulate and thoughtful she describes herself as an ordinary German albeit close to one of the highest ranking Nazis but, like her friends and colleagues, ignorant of what was going on around her. Ingrid Eggers, German Gems, SFJFF 2016

At 105, Brunhilde Pomsel is nearly blind and walks with difficulty but her recollections and observations were pin sharp. David Charter, Tribune Magazine

While telling the story of Brunhilde Pomsel, secretary of the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, the film confronts the viewers with timeless questions about morals and humanity. Pomsel is still living at the age of 105, and although she always presented herself as someone inconsequential, she could hardly fit that description as secretary to Goebbels. The Jerusalem Post

Her story sheds light on human nature, especially under a dictatorship.Ofer Aderet, Haaretz

A rare insight into a mentality and a time of which living memory is now very rare.Chris Knipp, Filmleaf

A German Life is a contrapuntal fugue between official images and a personal voice. Annette Insdorf, The Huffington Post

Pomsel is giving one of the first, and last, in-depth interviews of her life. Often, end-of-life statements such as these are suffused with a sense of guilt. But Pomsel is unrepentant. Cate Connolly, The Guardian

The inner workings of the Nazi power structure have remained an object of fascination and speculation. Now, one of the last surviving witnesses has described her experiences in detail. Ms. Pomsel, who is 105 years old, offers an unflinching glimpse into the mentality of a “normal German” during the Nazi era, someone who worked within the system for personal advancement and now wrestles with her complicity. Charlie Wilder, New York Times

A German Life​ is a fascinating documentary that illuminates both an individual and a historical era.Annette Insdorf, Columbia University Film Professor

The sharp lens, dramatic light show the gleam in her glasses, the glisten of her spittle. The microscopic portrait is frequently interrupted with brief moments of pungent archival footage, providing footnotes and commentary. Chris Knipp, Filmleaf

Brunhilde Pomsel reminds us, how easy it is to condemn your ancestors in the light of the findings obtained over the past, to present yourself as the hero of the resistance, as long as you have not been put to the test yourself. A crucial warning, while new dark clouds are forming on the horizon. Mourad Moussa, Visions du réel

She does not only ask others the question of guilt about the atrocities of the Third Reich – but she also asks herself. And some of the things she recorded sound particularly horrifying coming from the mouth of such an up until old age ingenious woman. Susanne Hermansky, Süddeutsche Zeitung

Despite the rhetorical maneuvers, with which she tries to encroach her autonomy, Pomsel remains a highly interesting contemporary witness. Through her prevarications, she especially reveals how attractive, how fashionable the Nazism must have seemed to her for her to trust it in such naive way. Dominik Kamalzadeh, Der Standard

The Munich Film Festival only shows a few documentary films. They have to be either visually unique or simply overwhelming. This film is both. Bernhard Karl, Munich Film Festival

The film is not disturbing because it provides new historical insights, but because it confronts the audience with the highly topical issue of personal responsibility for current political affairs. Inge Günther, Berliner Zeitung

“A German Life” is a film about a contemporary witness, who served in an inferior position. The work is more convincing than other pompous staged films about Nazism, and it is more revealing than many TV shows about the war and Holocaust. Jochen Kürten, Deutsche Welle

Her job overrode, her wealth, her conscientiousness towards her superiors, the need to belong. A throughout human behavior. Hats off to the one who can claim with certainty that he would not have done the same. Inge Günther, Frankfurter Rundschau